


And There Was Only One Bed

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cruise Ship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Class Differences, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Faunus still exist, Lots of Rich People And Rich People Problems, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, i don't know tbh, maybe slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:08:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23016775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: After Clover Ebi lies about having a long-term boyfriend to get his parents off him about “settling down”, he finds himself with a problem: his family is about to embark on a three month cruise and wants Clover to bring along his mysterious beau so they can get to know him better.Short on time but not on luck, Clover begs his school friend/acquaintance Marrow Amin to play along with the charade, just until the cruise is over. Free food, luxury vacation, it’s the perfect way to spend a summer, right?Marrow agrees on one condition: if he goes through with this, Clover is paying off his student loans. That way, they both benefit, and everyone walks away scot-free.Except, cruise ships mean close proximity and closer quarters, questions from relatives and from strangers, and as a faunus, and a working-class man, Marrow doesn’t exactly fit in. But Marrow is determined to keep up the charade, if only for the money.But the longer the cruise goes on, the more Clover and Marrow find they have in common, and the more they’re drawn to one another. Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan, but maybe it’s the only way for this scheme, crazy as it is, to have a chance at surviving the ship.
Relationships: Background James Ironwood/Qrow Branwen, Marrow Amin/Clover Ebi, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 48
Kudos: 72





	1. Friends/Acquaintances

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. Time to break into another set of long fics with a new ship. Oops? This is a concept I've had for a while but I never had characters that worked for it, and Clover and Marrow gave me the perfect opportunity to work it into a fully fledged fic. My hope is that I managed to keep them both in character, but we shall see what you all think.
> 
> It's not going to be as long as some of my other long fics, don't worry. And while there are smut scenes (hence the E rating), I will be marking every chapter with them, so if you want to read the fic but don't want to read the smut, you are free to follow along and I'll help you out.
> 
> Background ships MAY include: Kali/Ghira, Li/An, Oobleck/Port, Robyn/Fiona, Ozma/Salem, Tyrian/Watts, and Glynda/Willow. These will be background, if they appear at all. James/Qrow, on the other hand, is sort of around more because they're more important characters.
> 
> Updates bi-weekly on Wednesdays, if I can manage it.
> 
> Cheers!

Clover had a problem. Technically, it was a self-inflicted problem, but that was besides the point. The problem was thus: Clover’s parents wanted to meet his long-term, serious boyfriend. Said long-term serious boyfriend? Did not exist. Clover had lied to his parents _months_ ago about having a boyfriend just to get them off his back about his promiscuity and kept up the lie ever since, whenever they asked.

Now, he’d run out of time. His parents were taking him on a three-month cruise, starting next week, and wanted Clover to bring his imaginary boyfriend with him. Which meant Clover had less than a week to dig up a suitable fake boyfriend before his parents saw through his ruse and did something terrible, like cut up his credit cards or take away his car.

So, Clover needed a fake boyfriend.

Where was he going to find one?

These were the questions that plagued him as he wandered through campus. Technically, he was ready to graduate university. He had enough credits, but he didn’t much want to be swallowed up by the work force, quite yet. His parents wanted him to work in the family business, which was electronics, but Clover wasn’t passionate about them.

Really, Clover didn’t _have_ a passion. He was a marketing major, and he liked it well enough, but not for marketing reasons. Really, he liked fishing. He liked sex. But those weren’t exactly careers. Well, the latter _could_ be, but his parents would absolutely kill him.

Clover huffed and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked down a set of stairs. The campus was gorgeous today. It was mid-May and the sun was shining. There was a slight breeze that ruffled Clover’s hair and he wanted to sprawl under a tree and enjoy the day.

But no, he was a man on a mission.

He’d thought for days on what to do about his fake boyfriend situation and come to a conclusion. First, his friends wouldn’t work. Not only did Clover’s parents know all his friends, but none of them were the sort of person he’d _hide_ from his parents.

Second, Craigslist wouldn’t work. Someone would report back to his parents and that would leave a digital paper trail to showcase his stupidity.

Third, he didn’t know a lot of people that a) he liked enough and b) liked him enough to ask to be his fake boyfriend. In fact, he could only think of one guy that was nice enough, smart enough, _good_ enough to play the role of hidden long-term boyfriend that Clover trusted enough and liked enough to ask.

Which was why he was on campus, today.

“Marrow!” called Clover, hurrying down another set of steps toward the other man.

Marrow stopped and turned toward Clover, raising an eyebrow at him. “Clover. What do you want?” His voice was flat where Clover’s was exuberant.

In many ways, they were opposites. Clover pale where Marrow was dark. Clover’s hair was short while Marrow’s was long. Marrow worked hard while Clover slacked. Hell, even in their group project they’d been opposites. Clover looking for big ideas while Marrow tended to the details.

And of course, the biggest difference between the two was behind Marrow: Marrow was a faunus. Clover wasn’t.

“Hey, is that anyway to greet a friend?” asked Clover. Then, “We’re friends, right? Buddy?”

Marrow gave him a flat look and folded his arms across his chest. “We did one group project together last year. You called me a bookworm and ate all my orange chicken. Twice.”

Clover chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn’t have phrased it like _that_ , exactly. “Yeah! Good times.” He clapped his hands together in front of him. “Listen, I need a favour. A big one. See, I’m in a pinch with my parents.”

“So?” asked Marrow, both eyebrows up.

Clover sighed. “Well, I was hoping you could help me out.” He bounced on his heels. He’d expected Marrow to be more enthusiastic. They’d gotten along well during the group project. “See, I may have told my parents I had a serious boyfriend. You know, to get them off my back about the whole…” He gave a vague wave.

“Sluttiness?” guessed Marrow.

Clover winced. “Yeah, that.” He cleared his throat. “My parents… they now want to _meet_ this so-called boyfriend.”

Marrow blinked. “Uh-huh. Why are you telling me this?”

“I’m glad you asked!” said Clover, grinning. “See, I was hoping _you_ could pretend to be said boyfriend.”

“Not interested.” Marrow shook his head and flipped his bangs from his eyes. He turned and started walking away.

Clover hurried after him and jumped in front of Marrow, arms thrown out to stop him. Marrow paused in his walking and sighed, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow at Clover.

“Do you mind?” asked Marrow. “Some of us have actual problems.”

Clover huffed. “You didn’t even listen to my proposal, yet!”

“Can’t one of your…” Marrow waved vaguely. “Richie Rich friends help you out with this?”

Clover put his hands on his hips. “No, see, I thought of that. But my parents know all of them. What I need is someone they’ve never met, but is good enough for them to believe is the real deal.”

The other eyebrow went up. “And you thought of me.”

“Yes! Exactly!” Clover grinned, clapping his hands together.

“Not interested.” Marrow stepped around Clover and kept going. Clover frowned and hurried to follow after Marrow, ducking under a tree branch as Marrow strode on, his feet fast and his bag bouncing against his back.

“Hang on, hang on!” called Clover. He ran ahead of Marrow and spun around, throwing his arms out again. “Please, just… hang on.”

Marrow paused and raised an eyebrow, leaning with his hip jutted out to one side.

“Listen,” said Clover. “It’s just for the summer, okay? Ninety days. My parents and I are going on a three-month cruise starting at the end of the month. My parents are begging me to bring my secret boyfriend along. It’s a free vacation. What more could you want?”

Marrow’s expression changed as Clover spoke, shifting from neutral to annoyed to _angry._ He scowled at Clover, a shadow passing over his face.

“A three-month cruise?” echoed Marrow, sounding incredulous and frustrated. Clover nodded. What was the problem with that? Sure, it was kind of long, but it was a nice ship and he was excited.

“Yeah!” said Clover. “It’s going to be great.”

Marrow’s scowl grew. “Do you have _any_ idea—you know what? It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. His tail stood straight down, almost quivering where it hung. Clover tried not to look at it too much. He didn’t really know if he was allowed to use it to see how Marrow was feeling. He was a person, after all.

“It doesn’t?” echoed Clover.

“Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, you sound _ridiculous_ , I can’t. I have to work all summer to try and make a _dent_ in my student loans.” Marrow narrowed his eyes and squeezed his hands against his arms. “Unlike you, I don’t have rich parents to help me with all my money issues.” He moved around Clover. “Excuse me.”

Clover felt a lightbulb go off over his head. He had a fantastic idea. An idea that would make everyone happy.

“Wait!” Clover turned and jogged the few steps to Marrow, grabbing his shoulder to turn him around. “Hang on. I have a great idea.”

“I doubt that,” said Marrow.

“Your loans,” said Clover, grinning. “What if I took care of them?”

Marrow furrowed his brow and wrinkled his nose at Clover. “What?”

“Yeah,” said Clover. He bounced a bit in place. “What if… you do this for me, help me convince my parents that I’m not a total slut—”

“Which you are,” said Marrow, drily.

Clover rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said. “If we can keep my parents believing this for the fully ninety days, all the way until the end, then I’ll arrange to pay off your student loans, including whatever you have to take out for your… what, last semester?” Marrow nodded, looking suspicious. “Yeah, your last semester. We can put it in writing and everything.”

Marrow cocked an eyebrow so high that it disappeared into his hair. “You want to pay off my _six figure loans_ for a three month lie?”

Clover nodded. “Yes! Dude, you have no idea how much this will help me. I can finally convince my parents I’m not a total sleaze when it comes to dating.” He clasped his hands together in front of him in mock prayer. “So, will you do it?”

Marrow pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He looked pained as he said, “You know what, Clover? I think you’ve got yourself a deal.”

Clover held out his hand and Marrow took it. They shook, twice, and Clover pulled his hand back.

“Thank you so much, Marrow. You really have no idea what this means to me.”

Marrow sighed. “I guess.”

“Really,” said Clover, smiling at him. “You’re the only chance I have, and it means so much to me. You’re my hero, man.”

Marrow cleared his throat. His tail started to wag behind him. “It’s not that big a deal,” he said. Clover leaned a little and looked at Marrow’s wagging tail with a raised eyebrow. Marrow scowled and grabbed his tail. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.

“I need your number,” said Clover, digging out his phone. It was the latest _Scroll_ ¸ made by IronTech. He saw the way Marrow rolled his eyes at it, before Marrow dug out his own phone, which was an old Nedroid model.

The swapped phones, punched in numbers, and Clover took a second to take a selfie for his contact info on Marrow’s phone, before swapping back.

“Hang on, I want to get a picture of you,” said Clover. He held up his phone and Marrow rolled his eyes, giving him a flat look. Clover snapped the picture anyway, adding a raincloud emoji next to Marrow’s name as he did, before tucking his phone away.

“When is this cruise?” asked Marrow.

“Next week,” said Clover. “But we should get together and figure out a game plan, before then. My parents will expect us to know each other well.” He gasped and clapped his hands together. “We could do a tit-for-tat sort of thing. You ask me a question, I ask you a question. It’ll be great.”

Marrow sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That sounds fine. I’ve got classes all week, but I’m free on Sunday.”

Clover grinned. “Great!” He tilted his head at Marrow, his hands on his hips. “You know, you should cheer up, man. This is gonna be _easy_. And at the end, we’ll part ways as friends.”

“Friends?” echoed Marrow, raising his eyebrows.

Clover shrugged. “Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, no reason we can’t be friends, right? You’re a cool guy and I’d like to get to know you better, regardless.”

“Uh…” Marrow ducked his head, but his tail was wagging away behind him. Clover, politely, didn’t stare or call attention to it. “Thanks. I don’t exactly have a lot of friends.” He shrugged. “People don’t really like me.”

Clover frowned. “That’s stupid. People are stupid. We only did one project together and I can tell how cool a guy you are, and how nice, and friendly, and funny. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked you to help me.”

Marrow’s tail kept wagging away. “Thanks,” he mumbled, again. He cleared his throat. “I should go. I have work in an hour and I need to study and get something to eat.” He patted his pockets and grimaced. “Shit. I don’t think I…”

He trailed off as Clover dug into his own pockets, opened his wallet, and handed him a fifty. “Here,” he said. “Consider it a bonus.” He winked. “Between friends.”

Marrow took the bill and shook his head, an incredulous look on his face. “You’re really something, Clover.”

Clover grinned. “Oh, I know.” He winked. “See you Sunday!” He turned and jogged away, heading back toward his car. There was a bounce in his step as he went and a giddiness to his smile. He’d done it! After so many false starts and failed plans, he’d finally figured out a way to get a friend and fool his parents.

Plus, this meant he’d have someone on the cruise, this year, that wasn’t a total tool. There were only so many pompous, spoiled rich people he could handle at once. Some of them were just _so_ unaware of the world around them, it was ridiculous.

As he neared his car, Clover pulled out his phone and called his mom, swinging into the driver’s seat. He didn’t drive, yet, because he knew not to talk and drive, especially when he only had one hand free.

“Hello?” came his mom’s voice.

“Mom!” said Clover, cheerful. “Guess what? He agreed. You’re gonna get to meet my boyfriend on the cruise.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful sweetheart,” said Mom. “I can’t wait to meet him. What’s his name?”

“Marrow,” said Clover, grinning in the rear-view mirror at himself. “His name is Marrow.”

This was going to be an _awesome_ summer.


	2. Twenty Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy.

On Sunday, Clover left home in the mid-morning, picked up coffees and snacks for himself and Marrow, and drove to Marrow’s apartment near campus. Clover, himself, lived a distance from campus, at his parents’ house, but he’d always had his car to make up the distance. Besides, he preferred to drive. It cleared his head in a way nothing else did.

He’d visited Marrow’s apartment before, for the group project, but it never ceased to amaze him just how _different_ it was from Clover’s home. While Clover had a massive home on the coastal side of town, overlooking the ocean, Marrow’s home was a one-bedroom apartment on the seventh floor of a student residence. The garbage in the foyer was always full, the elevator floors were always wet, and the button for the elevator was always slightly sticky.

There were _some_ babies and toddlers in the building, because it was for students and sometimes students had children, but there weren’t enough to always warrant sticky elevator buttons.

Clover tried not to think about it too much.

The hallways were sort of dreary, as well, but Clover didn’t have to stay in them, long. Marrow’s apartment wasn’t far from the elevator.

He knocked on the drab, grey coloured door and waited for Marrow. It took only a moment for Marrow to open the door, and then Clover was heading in, snacks in hand.

“Morning,” said Clover, cheerfully. He bounced a bit on his heels. “You ready to get this party started?” He held out the coffee tray. “I got you coffee. Two creams, three sugars, right? Pump of caramel.”

Marrow cracked a little smile at that and took the drink. “Yeah, exactly. Surprised you remember.” He sipped it and hummed. He was dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, revealing a handful of black and gold tattoos that spiraled down his arms. They weren’t in English and Clover didn’t recognize the language. The art was pretty, though. Curved lines and smoke effects that looked beautiful. Plus, paw prints on his right shoulder, done in such a way that they looked almost sunken into his skin.

“The paw prints are new,” said Marrow, noticing Clover staring. “You wouldn’t have seen them, even if I didn’t wear long sleeves most of the time. My old dog died, so I got his paw prints on me.”

Clover let out a slow breath. “Wow.” He cleared his throat. “They’re beautiful.”

Marrow’s tail wagged behind him. He ducked his head, ears turning darker. “Thanks. Uh… couch?” His voice cracked a little.

“Couch,” agreed Clover, grinning. This was more familiar. The teasing, the compliments. He could do that. This was how he usually talked to people.

He followed Marrow to his small couch in his small living space. Clover sat at one end, Marrow sat at the other, but the couch was small enough that their knees brushed when Clover shifted to face Marrow more. He set the bag of snacks on the milk crate coffee table that Marrow had.

“So,” said Marrow. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. He had gorgeous black hair, which almost seemed to have a greenish hue to it. Not a gross green, but more like a soft, ocean green. Like the depths of the ocean floor stared out from the highlights of his hair.

“So?” echoed Clover, when Marrow didn’t continue. He sipped his own coffee, which was a white chocolate mocha.

Marrow frowned, wrinkling his nose. “Don’t do that.”

The corners of Clover’s mouth turned upward in a slow, sly smile. “Do what?” he asked, eyes twinkling.

Marrow’s cheeks darkened, almost taking on a purple hue. “Stare at me. It’s intimidating.”

“Is it?” asked Clover. He cast his gaze around Marrow, where Marrow’s tail beat against his hip. “Or do you like it?” He couldn’t help the grin on his face.

Marrow pouted and grabbed his tail. “I’m not used to people staring at me like that.”

“Like what?” asked Clover.

“Nicely,” said Marrow. Clover’s breath hitched. _Oh._ That hadn’t even occurred to him. Why wouldn’t people stare at Marrow? He was gorgeous and funny and so different looking from everyone else Clover knew. But then, that wasn’t always a good thing, the last part. And not everyone saw difference as beautiful.

Clover knew _that_ from spending too much time with the parents of his peers. His parents didn’t agree with a lot of their politics, but they all still had lunches together on weekends. Something Clover didn’t understand. Why not tell them to screw off?

“Sorry?” guessed Clover, cocking his head to one side. He didn’t really know what to say about that. “I can stop.” He sipped his coffee some more and watched Marrow, who watched him back with narrowed eyes, his nose wrinkling again. “I promise, it’s nothing bad.”

“Doubtful,” muttered Marrow. Then, “So, uh, what exactly do we need to know about each other for this? And when am I getting that pay-off in writing?”

Clover grinned. “I can have an actual agreement drafted up by someone fancy, if you want, or we can make it up ourselves. Up to you. As for what we should know… everything.” He spread his hands, balancing the coffee in one. “Probably should start with how long we’ve been dating.”

Marrow sighed. “Great,” he mumbled. “Bye-bye summer.”

With a dramatic sigh, Clover gave Marrow a cheeky smile. “Oh come on, I’m not _that_ bad a catch. I’m handsome, I’m funny, I’m encouraging. I’m great in bed.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Marrow’s eyes went wide and his face darkened. “As if I needed to know that,” he squeaked out.

Clover laughed. “You never know what people are going to ask!”

“If your parents ask about our fake sex life, we have bigger issues than me not knowing your dick size,” said Marrow. He shook his head, a piece of hair falling in his face. “Just… _dude._ And isn’t it kind of arrogant to brag about how _supposedly_ good you are in bed?”

Clover winked and did finger guns. “Can’t spell Clover without lover.”

“…I think I hate you,” said Marrow.

Clover pouted. “Aw, come on now. I think I’m great!” He threw an arm into the air, only remembering at the last second that he was holding coffee with the other hand. “Look at me, Marrow. Any guy would be lucky to have me.”

“I’m sure,” said Marrow. But his gaze slid up and down Clover’s body, regardless. Clover felt a small glow of pride at the way Marrow’s ears flushed, especially when Marrow ducked his head to hide his gaze.

Clover smirked.

“What’s reasonable for a serious relationship?” asked Clover. “Four months?” He cocked his head to one side.

Marrow lifted his head and raised his eyebrows at Clover. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No?” guessed Clover. He winced. “I…” He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “I have no idea how long a serious relationship should be.”

“What’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had?” asked Marrow.

Clover thought about it. “…Two weeks?”

“ _Two weeks_?” asked Marrow, his tone incredulous and his mouth falling open. “Seriously?”

“More like ten days,” said Clover. He grimaced. Then, waving a hand in front of him, he said, “Look, it’s not _that_ big a deal. That’s why I’m doing this, you know? Prove to my parents that I can handle a long-term relationship and they don’t need to meddle in my life and try to set me up with the kids of their weird ass rich friends.”

Marrow raised one eyebrow. “Except they do.”

“You’re not supposed to take _their_ side,” said Clover. He frowned and sipped deeply from his coffee. How was this supposed to work if Marrow didn’t believe in him? Marrow needed to believe in this to make it work. Maybe not in Clover’s ability to _have_ a long-term relationship, but in his ability to _fake_ one. That was all Clover wanted. Someone who trusted in his ability to lie his ass off.

Marrow shrugged and sipped his coffee, a tiny smile on his face. “You’re only two years older than me and you’ve never had a serious relationship. It’s kind of sad, dude. Maybe your parents have a point.”

Clover huffed. “Yeah? What, so if your parents wanted to set you up with some random person, you’d go along with it?”

Another shrug, this one a bit more subdued. “Wouldn’t work.”

“Why not?”

“My parents are dead, Clover, and I don’t believe in ghosts.” The words hung in the air after Marrow spoke and Marrow winced, presumably at the stunned look on Clover’s face. His parents were _dead._ No wonder the guy had no money and lived in a shitty apartment. No wonder he struggled so much to stay on his feet.

No wonder he made comments about Clover’s rich parents.

God, Clover was an _asshole._

“I’m… sorry,” said Clover. His voice was breathy. “I didn’t…” He grimaced. “I didn’t know.” He spoke into his coffee, staring at the lid as he tried to find something else to say.

“It’s not that big a deal,” said Marrow, his own voice quiet. “They’ve been gone since I was little. I remember them, but not a lot.” Clover lifted his head and met Marrow’s gaze with his own. “Bad joke.”

“I think you’re allowed to make jokes,” said Clover.

Marrow snorted. “Yeah, well, everyone reacts like you, so I probably shouldn’t.” He cleared his throat. “Six months.”

Clover blinked. “What?”

“Six months. If you want your parents to believe you’re serious, six months is a good timeline. Unless you’ve done something to prove you’re a slut in that time period,” said Marrow. He raised an eyebrow at Clover and Clover huffed. He wasn’t _that_ bad. …And he hadn’t brought anyone home in that amount of time. So, that’d work.

Clover nodded. “Yeah, okay. Six months. I can do that. It’s the end of May, so we started dating in December?” He tipped his head. “Maybe a week or two in? That’d give me enough time between uh, the last relationship, to be believable.” By ‘last relationship’ he meant the six-day sex spree he’d had with the cousin of the daughter of one of his parent’s friends. Man, that guy had had a nice ass.

“December ninth,” said Marrow, his voice firm. “If it’s December, it should be the ninth.” Clover blinked. He didn’t get why Marrow seemed so adamant, but he had no complaints.

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Ninth it is.” Then, stretching, “So, tell me about yourself.”

Marrow cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Well, we’ve gotta know each other. So, let’s start easy.” Clover hummed. “Tit-for-tat. I ask a question, you ask me one. Yeah?”

“Sure,” said Marrow.

Clover grinned. “So, what’s your major?” Marrow raised the other eyebrow. Clover shrugged. “Look, we pick our majors for all sorts of reasons. I think it’s a good way to know something about someone.”

“Gender Equality and Social Justice,” said Marrow. “I focus on systematic racism against faunus.”

Clover nodded. “Wow, damn. That makes sense. So, you see sort of everything, right? The best and the worst.”

Marrow sighed. “Pretty much.” He sipped his drink and frowned. “I see a lot of ways we could improve, and I see how far we’ve come. It’s… hard, sometimes. But I have hope. Faunus are built to be at the bottom of society, like so many other minorities. My hope is that as I continue my research in intersectional minority identities, I can find ways to help more than just my own people.”

Clover blinked a few times. _Shit_ , that was deep. Marrow really had put a lot of thought into who he was and how he wanted to change the world. Made Clover feel a little left out.

“Wow,” said Clover. “That’s intense.”

“Thanks,” said Marrow, ducking his head. “What about you?”

“Huh?” Clover blinked.

“Your major. What is it?” asked Marrow. He cocked his head, slightly, and his tail poked out from behind him. “You’re probably a business major, right?”

Clover chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “No, actually. I’m in Online Marketing and Social Media.” Marrow wrinkled his brow at Clover. “I was never much for business, like my parents, but I still wanted to help out the business. Diverse ads are a super important part of marketing, now. Appealing to our generation is hard.” He sat up straight and gestured with his hands. “So many of us hate ads and targeted things like that. Trying to find a balance in relatability and effect is hard.”

“Ah,” said Marrow, sipping his drink some more. “Corporate Twitter.”

Clover winced. He’d heard that before. He rubbed a hand through his hair. “Not really,” he said. “My focus is more on banner and video ads, getting all sorts of people into them so that everyone can see themselves.”

“That’s all well and good, if the company supports that stuff,” said Marrow.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you have an ad with a gay couple, but the company donates to conversion therapy bullshit, you’re not making it safe for gay people to buy the product, you’re putting them at risk of being hurt by the product and the company, and supporting something that directly hurts them,” said Marrow. He shrugged. “Just saying.”

Clover opened his mouth, closed it, and frowned. “Yeah, you’re right.” He huffed out a breath. “Reminds me of my parents.”

“Oh?” asked Marrow.

“I mean… my parents are cool with the gay thing, right? They always have been, but they also have a lot of really conservative friends and acquaintances that hate gay people.” Clover grimaced. Thinking about this always made his chest hurt. His parents loved him. So why wasn’t he enough for them to toss these people to the curb? Were these bigots so important to their business? Their image? “It’s… shitty.”

“The problem,” said Marrow, his voice soft, “is that when you try to listen and be friends with everyone, you end up hurting more people than you help. If you invite both queer folk and bigots into your home, only bigots will show up, and us queer kids will end up hating the person who invited us to start with.” He shrugged. “If that makes sense.”

The words rang clear through Clover. They washed over him until he couldn’t find anything else he wanted to say, because those words said everything he couldn’t.

“Thanks,” Clover managed to croak out. “That… fuck, thanks.”

Marrow’s face flushed. “You’re welcome?” He wrinkled his nose. “I think.”

“How do you know all this, anyway?” asked Clover.

Marrow raised a hand and an eyebrow. He counted off, on his fingers, as he spoke. “I’m gay, lower class, Arab, and a faunus.” He gave Clover a look. “I’ve got a lot of shit people hate, going on, Clover. I’m sort of used to overthinking everything, because it’s the only way to stay safe.”

“Oh,” said Clover. “I’m sorry.”

Marrow shrugged. “Not your fault. Just the hand I was dealt, I guess.” He sighed, and his tail sagged with his shoulders. “It sucks, though. Sometimes you just wanna have fun without worrying that people are going to hurt you.”

Clover reached out with his foot and rested it atop one of Marrow’s. “Sorry,” he said, again, voice soft. “You don’t deserve that.”

An awkward silence settled across the two. Clover cleared his throat, trying to find a way to bring it back so that everything wasn’t this awkward for long.

“What’s your favourite colour?” he asked.

Marrow wrinkled his nose. “What?”

“Come on, it’s like, first date questions,” said Clover. Or at least it was for him. “Favourite colour, favourite food, and where you’d go if you could travel anywhere in the world.” He watched Marrow, who furrowed his brow and frowned a little.

“Um… Purple. I like how soft it is, and how many ways it slips into the world around us, like the night sky, and the ocean,” said Marrow. He gave a little laugh. “That sounded a lot less lame in my head.”

“It didn’t sound lame,” said Clover. He smiled. “I liked it. And it’s better than my answer. I like red because it’s red.” He shrugged.

Marrow snickered. “Succinct.”

“You flatter me,” said Clover. He draped his arm over the back of the couch and stretched his back out on the arm, letting out a quiet noise when it popped. When he looked back at Marrow, Marrow’s cheeks were darker, and his gaze immediately darted away from Clover. Clover’s lips twitched.

Yeah, he was hot. Hadn’t meant to embarrass Marrow, though.

“Awamat,” said Marrow.

Clover blinked. “Bless you?” he tried.

Marrow chuckled. “No, awamat. They’re my favourite food. My mother used to make them. They’re… sort of a type of doughnut ball, I guess.”

“Awamat,” echoed Clover, saying it slowly to get the pronunciation right. He nodded. “Cool.” He grinned at Marrow, who smiled back at him.

“And I’d go home, I guess,” said Marrow, shrugging. “I know I’m from near Somalia, but I don’t know where. I think it’d be cool to travel there, see my roots.” He went silent, a shadow passing over his face. “See what my parents left behind, to try and give me a better life, here.”

Clover opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn’t really have much to add to that. He felt completely out of his league.

Instead, he changed the subject.

He cleared his throat. “So, uh, when did you want me to start sending you money?” asked Clover. “Right after we get back?”

“Actually,” said Marrow. “I need you to start before. I’m giving up my summer job to trapeze around rich land with you, which means I can’t afford to pay my rent while I’m gone.”

Clover furrowed his brow and took out his phone. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I can send you your rent right now. What is it?”

“No!” Marrow’s voice was sharp and Clover froze, phone dangling in front of him. “My student loans and grants are based on my bank account. If you send me a shit ton of money, I could lose my scholarships.” He sighed. “I… don’t know what to do, though.”

Clover shrugged. “I’ll set up a separate account. Gimme your details before I leave and I’ll make sure you’re part of it. We put the money in there and have your rent taken out from it instead of your usual account until you get back.” He grinned. “Easy.”

“You’re pretty good at this,” said Marrow, narrowing his eyes.

Clover waved him off. “I have a separate account for my own stuff. Figured out how to do it when I turned eighteen so my parents wouldn’t know what I was buying.” He winked. “Can’t have them knowing about my sex toy collection.”

Marrow squeaked, clapping a hand over his mouth. His tail stood up straight behind him.

“I _so_ did not need to know that,” said Marrow.

Clover laughed.

They kept talking, swapping favourites and tidbits. Clover told Marrow about his adventures in sneaking out, Marrow told Clover about working at a café. Their lives were so different that Clover could barely imagine what it was like, being Marrow, but there were a few things he understood. He understood being around people who were fine with who you were, until they had to acknowledge it. He understood feeling scared to tell people who he loved, because he’d heard the slurs that fell from their lips. He understood the weight of the future, even if in a very different way.

Maybe they really _would_ end up great friends from all this. Marrow seemed pretty chill with him, at least. That was a bonus.

And he was cute, to boot, so hey, more bonus.

Several hours passed before it was time for Clover to leave. When he did, Marrow followed him to the door.

“Thanks for the snacks,” said Marrow, nodding back toward the table of mostly eaten snacks.

“Thanks for the help,” replied Clover. He reached up and swept his hand through his hair. “So, we leave next Monday. You ready?”

Marrow sighed. “You’re gonna text me a list of everything I need?”

Clover nodded. “Yup.”

“And you’re prepared for the fact that I’m probably not gonna own half of it?” Marrow folded his arms over his chest.

Clover flashed Marrow a double thumbs’ up. “Absolutely. See you Monday?”

Marrow sighed, again. “See you Monday.”

With that, Clover left, heading down to his car and driving off. As he did, he couldn’t shake the giddy excitement in his veins. This was going to work! And he was going to get a friend out of it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated. Thank you for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos, bookmarks, and other forms of feedback are greatly appreciated. Kind of proud for having one of the first Wishbone focused long fics.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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